Just when I think I have used plenty of superlatives to describe what Josh Jacobs is doing this season, he forces me to find some more. I think I’ve run out at this point. He’s simply playing on another level we’ve not seen from him before. And have rarely ever seen.
He is seeing the field at a six-sense level. Surveying his blocking and the angles of the defenders, finding even the smallest creases, and making the perfect cuts to get past the first level.
Then once a defender makes first contact, he shows off his tackle-breaking abilities in a myriad of ways. Whether it’s a juke, a stiff arm, a spin move, or otherwise. And even when a defender has him wrapped up, he drives through the tackle to grind for additional yards before going down.
The results are showing up in the numbers he’s putting up.
First and foremost, he leads the NFL in rushing. And it’s not close.
He has 1303 yards rushing. The next most is Nick Chubb with 1119. A difference of 184 yards.
Jacobs also leads the league in yards from scrimmage.
He has 1634 yards. A full 225 yards ahead of runner-up Tyreek Hill with 1409 yards.
Most scrimmage yards this season
Josh Jacobs 1,634
Tyreek Hill 1,409
Derrick Henry 1,364
Justin Jefferson 1,301
Saquon Barkley 1,296@iAM_JoshJacobs is a BEAST pic.twitter.com/QIPchsGY3J— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 5, 2022
His 29.8 first down percentage leads all running backs with at least 50 carries.
And his 10 rushing touchdowns is currently third in the league behind only Jamaal Williams (14) and Nick Chubb (12).
All these stats put Jacobs squarely in the top spot in terms of the All Pro conversation. Of that there is no question.
The next question is where it lands Jacobs in Raiders history. Where Marcus Allen is king of the hill. Josh Jacobs is knocking down several of Allen’s records and knocking on the door for others.
Midway through Sunday’s game, with Allen in attendance along with a few other Raiders Hall of Famers for Cliff Branch’s memorial, Jacobs broke Allen’s mark for most rushing yards in the first 12 games of a season.
RB Josh Jacobs has now surpassed Marcus Allen (1,236) for the most rushing yards through 12 games in a season in franchise history.
— Raiders PR (@RAIDERS_PR) December 4, 2022
With his 10th touchdown in the game, he joined or surpassed Allen in several other statistical categories as well.
Josh Jacobs: 10th Rush TD this season, the 2nd season of his career rushing for 10+ TD (also 2020). Jacobs joins Marcus Allen (4) as the only players in #Raiders franchise history with multiple seasons with 10+ Rush TD. H/T @ESPNStatsInfo
— Paul Gutierrez (@PGutierrezESPN) December 4, 2022
Most games in #Raiders history with 140+ yards rushing, 1+ TD run:
Josh Jacobs 5 (all in 2022)
Napoleon Kaufman 4
Bo Jackson 3
Marcus Allen 3
Darren McFadden 3
Clem Daniels 2
Michael Bush 2— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) December 5, 2022
Now with him leading the league this season, and on pace to shatter several of Marcus Allen’s Raiders records, the question turns to how Jacobs’s season compares to all time numbers. For that some Hall of Fame names come up.
Josh Jacobs has 1,303 yards rushing, 10 TD runs and is averaging 5.38 yards/carry. Only others to hit those numbers thru 12 games:
Walter Payton 1977
OJ Simpson 1973
Jim Brown 1965
Jim Brown 1963
Jim Brown 1958— Josh Dubow (@JoshDubowAP) December 5, 2022
This bears reiterating. The list of players to have had overall numbers like this over the first 12 games is Walter Payton, OJ Simpson, Jim Brown, and JOSH JACOBS.
That’s it. That’s the list.
With six games over 100 yards this season, including each of the past three weeks, there’s every reason to believe Jacobs will continue on his current all-time pace. And his performances have proven to correlate to winning for the Raiders, so that could spell good news for the team as well.
